Never Forever
by bleachedinubasket
Summary: Ichigo and Rukia fight over a poem. In her frustration she rushes out to fight a hollow on her own. But what is waiting is something stronger. Will she be able to make it through? Ichigo notices she is gone for too long and comes after her. oneshot IchRuk


A/N: This, my friends, is a one shot. (: Please, feel free to skip the queer poem below, but it's sort of the reason why I made this one shot up. This is my first time writing a fic with them being their normal Shinigami selves, well not normal, any who read on! (P.S. Sorry about the poem… I'm not good at poems. Yeah… I made it up. LOL Also, the fight scenes… I'm sorry, not good at those. : P)

**(A One Shot. IchiXRuki)**

--

Never Forever 

_Never have I thought that I would love you. _

_Never did I think I would need you. _

_But little did we know that the first day we met,_

_Our lives were entwined forever. _

_But now I say this, now more than ever. _

_Never doesn't mean the hate would last forever_

_The word never, doesn't necessarily mean that it would last forever_

_Never have I thought that I would love you_

I didn't mean I would hate you forever 

_Never did I think I would need you_

_I didn't mean I would push you away forever_

_For never, doesn't always mean that it would last forever_.

--

Rukia swung her legs back and forth and furrowed her eyebrows. She thought about what the poem was saying. It didn't have any difficult words or any metaphors, so why was it so hard? _Never forever? Forever never?_ She groaned and put her hands in her hair. It usually wasn't this hard to understand real world literature. She flipped over and stared at the ceiling deep in thought.

Ichigo, in his shinigami form, came through the wall and smirked when he saw Rukia on the bed, staring at the ceiling. It was like the night that he had first met her, except the positions were switched. Seeing that she didn't notice him, he must've hid his rieatsu well, finally, he felt that he understood how.

"Hey Ichigo." Rukia said.

"What? You didn't notice before!" Ichigo said.

"When your ego grows, sometimes your rieatsu does too." She laughed as she looked at the man towering over her beside the bed.

"Yeah, whatever." He slipped back into his body. "Hey, where's Kon?"

"Urahara came by and told Kon about a new gigai he had for him." Rukia flipped through the book.

"Oh I see." Ichigo sat down in his desk chair. "What were you doing?"

"I was thinking." She said as she turned over to look at him.

"Thinking about what?" Ichigo asked.

"Nothing you should now about." She said.

"Why shouldn't I know about it?" He said.

"Because you don't need to." She smiled a fake smile and turned her attention back to the book.

"Whatever. Like I'd care what a hundred fifty year old woman would be thinking about." He turned his iPod on and put on the earphones. Rukia's eyes glared, an aura could be seen around her.

"Did you just call me old?" Rukia said through gritted teeth. Ichigo was too busy listening to his iPod to even care. Rukia pulled the earphones out harshly and Ichigo yelled.

"What the hell was that for? You're buying me new ones!" He picked up the earphones on the ground.

"You frikken called me old, you idiot. And that's what you get." She said and sat back down on the bed.

"Well you are old." He snickered.

"Wanna mess?" She yelled and punched him in the face.

"You know, I absolutely hate you." He rubbed his jaw.

"Well no wonder, I hate you as well." She said.

Just then Rukia's phone beeped. She saw that it was a hollow near the park. She turned to Ichigo who was already in Shinigami form and was about to leave. She put her hand out and stopped Ichigo as she ate one of the soul candies.

"Leave it to me." She said.

"No way, you need me." He said.

"I don't need you! I can take care of myself!" She said, and left without another word.

Ichigo went back into his body, and agreed that Rukia should do it alone. He fell into his bed and saw the book that Rukia was reading. He read the poem and laughed. _This is so confusing_. _No wonder she was thinking hard_. He closed the book and put it on the floor, he lay there, like the night from long ago, just thinking. Thinking about everyone. Chad, Uryuu, Orihime, Tatsuki, Keigo, everyone… affected by him and his rieatsu. He looked at his watch. Five minutes after Rukia left, he cursed and ran out of his body and right into the wall.

"Shit!" He rubbed his head, and jumped out the window instead.

Rukia flash stepped from roof to roof. _Damn strawberry thinks I'm old. That idiot_. She was so busy thinking, that she didn't notice the espada in the sky. A cero hit the ground. Rukia jumped and saw none other than Grimmjow in the sky. He smirked at the small shinigami below him. Rukia's eyes widened and she attacked.

"Sode no Shirayuki. Hakuren." She said. The ice shot up and froze Grimmjow in the spot. But Rukia knew that it wouldn't hold him for long. She flash stepped away from the park as fast as she could, and Grimmjow broke free.

Ichigo flash stepped from his house towards the park; he felt a strong rieatsu and heard a huge blast hit the ground. He couldn't follow the rieatsu well enough to follow it, but enough to know that someone was there. He headed towards the sound of the blast and saw a shot of ice coming from the ground. _Rukia!_ Ichigo thought and tried to run even faster. He arrived just in time to see Rukia run off and Grimmjow broke free. He looked up and saw the blue haired espada.

"Huh, if it isn't Ichigo." Grimmjow said.

"Hey." Ichigo's hand went up to Zangetsu's hilt.

"No need to fight for today, although it would be fun… Ah what the heck, I accept your challenge." He dashed to Ichigo fist in the air and Ichigo flash stepped away from the spot. Grimmjow punched the roof and quickly got up. He ran after Ichigo.

"What's wrong? Take out your sword and fight." He said.

"Not now, at least not here." Ichigo said, still looking ahead.

"No shit, you're just running." He shot another cero at Ichigo who easily dodged it.

_Rukia, where the hell are you?_ Grimmjow's eyebrow rose, it seemed like Ichigo had something on his mind. This was his chance. Grimmjow appeared in front of Ichigo, and Ichigo in surprise fell back. Grimmjow punched him across the face and Ichigo fell to the ground.

"Feh. You always to pay attention to a battle you dumbass." He left Ichigo on the ground, his lip bleeding.

--

Rukia heard an explosion from behind her, and a familiar rieatsu. Ichigo! She stopped and absent-mindedly turned to the direction of the rieatsu. _Don't tell me that jerk went after me; I told him I could handle it!_ She ran through the streets hoping to find him when a cero hit the ground before her, she looked up, her face angry.

"And where are you going midget?" Grimmjow said. "You going after your dead boyfriend?" Grimmjow chuckled and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. Rukia repeated to him what she did before.

"Sode no Shirayuki. Hakuren." Rukia raised her sword. It froze Grimmjow on the spot, but this time, he had a faster reaction to it. He quickly broke free and Rukia started running. She kept thinking about finding Ichigo the whole time, and not noticing the espada running after her.

She saw Ichigo, on the ground unconscious; she went over to him and thanked God that there were no severe injuries. She shook him awake and his eyes flickered open.

"R… Rukia…" He said as he stood up.

"Yes it's me you big idiot now get up before-"

"Before what?" Grimmjow was directly behind them.

Ichigo got up and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. Grimmjow smirked and put his hands in his pockets.

"So now you fight? Alright." He came at Ichigo and Ichigo easily blocked him with his sword. Rukia attacked him from behind and he yelled.

"Rukia run! I can deal with this guy by myself!" Ichigo swung his sword at the smirking espada.

"No! Don't you get it? We need each other!" She swung her sword at Grimmjow and he stopped it with his arm.

"Go Rukia! You'll get hurt!" His rieatsu increased.

"NO!" She yelled and continued attacking.

"Damn it." He said, and his rieatsu continued to rise.

"Shinigami… you should lower that down before…" The cry of a menos shot through the sky. "Before you end up attracting some badies."

Rukia looked up and saw two Menos Grande from the sky.

"Ichigo! Lower your rieatsu!" Rukia yelled.

"I can't!" He said and attacked Grimmjow once more. Hollows came out of the sky by twos, hungrily looking for the source of the strong rieatsu. Rukia muttered something under her breath and left. Once Ichigo saw her leave he attacked Grimmjow with full force. Grimmjow leapt back his face in the usual evil grin.

"So… now that the distraction is gone you can fight?" He laughed.

Ichigo yelled and he charged at Grimmjow zanpakuto in the air, aiming for his stomach.

A Menos Grande fell to the ground with a crash and there was one more left. Rukia readied her sword when thousands of arrows shot through the sky and at the menos grande's face. Rukia looked to her left and saw Uryuu, Chad and Orihime, and a teen with black spiked hair and yellow highlights in it. That had to be Kon. She nodded her thanks and ran back to where Ichigo was last.

Their swords met and Ichigo pushed forward, along with an enormous amount of rieatsu. Grimmjow simply pushed him forward. Rukia arrived at the scene and repeated her attack. "Sode no Shirayuki. Hakuren" Grimmjow froze, along with Ichigo. Rukia ran over and Ichigo broke free.

"What the HELL! I could've been FROZEN TO DEATH!" He exclaimed.

"Sode no Shirayuki. Hakuren." She thrust out her sword. Ichigo just watched in awe of her beautiful zanpakuto.

"Um… Rukia… I think that's enough" Ichigo said.

Rukia stopped for a moment, and then Grimmjow dashed out of the ice, sword in front of him, aiming for Ichigo. Rukia saw this and immediately dashed in front of Ichigo. Rukia stood there, her eyes wide in shock. She looked down at her stomach and her blood stained her clothes. She fell to her knees; much like the night she had first met Ichigo. Ichigo looked down at the bleeding Rukia, lying on the concrete ground. He had been protected, yet again. He glared at Grimmjow who seemed pleased with his kill. Ichigo took out his sword and yelled out in fury.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!" He swung his zanpakuto and Grimmjow quickly dodged it. A hole ripped open in the sky. Ichigo yelled out again.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!" Another bolt of rieatsu from Ichigo's blade, Grimmjow jumped into the rip in the sky and disappeared as quickly as he appeared. Ichigo yelled again.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" The bolt went through the sky. He was about to yell out again when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Uryuu.

Uryuu motioned over to Orihime as she healed Rukia under the shield. It happened again, like before… the first time they saw espada, it happened again; Rukia getting hurt, all because he was too weak. As soon as Rukia's wound was healed, Ichigo picked her up and dashed home. He would thank Orihime later; first he had to get Rukia home, in bed.

--

Rukia opened her eyes; she felt the pain of her wound, that wasn't there anymore, in her stomach. She also felt something warm in her hand. She looked over and saw that it was Ichigo's hand in hers; he was asleep with his head on his arm. She sat up and studied his calm face. She smiled; it was funny to see him look like an innocent little kid. Instead of the scowl she was used to seeing. He shuffled and woke up. He looked up and saw Rukia smiling.

"Mm… hey." He rubbed his eyes, still not letting go of her hand.

"Hey. You've been holding my hand for a while." She said.

"Oh! Right!" He quickly let go and scratched the back of his head, ignoring the fact that he was blushing.

"This is not like you Ichigo." Rukia said.

"Oh shut up will yah? Just because I held your hand while you were sleeping." He scowled again. Rukia laughed.

"Alright." She smiled. Ichigo squirmed and fidgeted. "What's wrong?"

"You protected me. Again. You know I hate it when you do that you midget." He muttered.

"But… I wanted to." She said looking out the window. By then she realized that it was dark out.

"But damn it Rukia! I told you to go! I told you to run! And you didn't listen!" He said.

"But I don't have to listen to you! You can't boss me around!" She yelled, and ran out her window.

"RUKIA! RUKIA!" Ichigo yelled out his window, the small silhouette ran in the direction of the park. "Shit." He kicked his bed.

"I think you should go after her." A teen boy about his age with spiky hair and blonde highlights stood at the door, he was wearing a tight black shirt with a ripped vest on top; along with ripped pants and steel toe boots.

"Kon?" Ichigo poked his head.

"Yes it's me." Kon said, trying to ignore the pokes. "STOP POKING ME AND GO AFTER HER!" Ichigo punched Kon in the face. "What the hell?"

"I just wanted to do that for so long." He faked a smile and jumped out of his window.

As he ran down the dimly lit streets his long day replayed before him. Seeing Rukia on the bed, Grimmjow, Rukia getting hurt… all because of him. He swore again, and then he remembered what she said. _Don't you get it? We need each other! _It echoed through his mind as he realized what she had meant. He arrived at the park huffing and puffing, and saw the small girl that looked so fragile, so weak and so pale staring out at the river. He thought that she looked so vulnerable just sitting there, but inside was a strong shinigami, capable of taking down an arrancar at the sixteenth level. He walked over to her and she looked up.

"Hey." He said, and sat down not too far from her. She ignored his invitation for a conversation. "Listen… about today… I…" He was not too good at apologies.

"Can it." She said. And stuffed an apple in his mouth.

"What the hell?" He took it out. Rukia bit her apple with a loud crunch.

"I understand the poem now." Rukia smiled to herself.

"Oh? Good because I understand it too." Ichigo bit his own apple.

"So when they say… never did I think I would need you… and after that it says I didn't mean to push you away forever." Rukia paused and looked at her apple.

"It means that… it's hard to explain." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo… I never thought I would need you. But I think I do." She said and looked up at him.

"Really? I think I do too." He muttered.

They sat in silence eating their apples. And as soon as they finished they walked home without a single word. It was a comfortable silence. They walked through a quiet house and into Ichigo's room. They saw that Kon was asleep and in his stuffed animal body. Rukia sat on Ichigo's bed and Ichigo sat beside her. She swung her legs back and forth and hummed a random tune.

"Ichigo, little did we know that the first day we met our lives would be entwined forever." She said.

"Forever sure is a long time." He scratched his head.

"Yeah…" Rukia stopped humming.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing. Good night!" She got up and left for the twins' room.

"Yeah. Good night." Ichigo said. "Oh by the way. I still owe you for protecting me… damn it I'm so weak." He said.

"No, it's okay. You went through heaven and hell just to rescue me. I think I paid you back. Anyway, goodnight Ichigo." She smiled.

"Good night." Never, had he seen Rukia smile like that before. But never, doesn't always mean that the word would last forever.

**End.**

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A/N: WASN'T IT SO CUTE?! LOL. I had so much fun making this. Please review… maybe even favourite? (: And remember, never say neverrr.


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